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For the descendents of Richard Dearie and his son John Russell

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Malayan Collieries Report Accounts and A.G.M. 1915

2

MALAYAN COLLIERIES, LIMITED.

DlRECTORS'   REPORT

AND

STATEMENT    OF    ACCOUNTS

For the year ended 30th June, 1915.

TO BE PRESENTED AT   THE

SECOND   ANNUAL GENERAL   MEETING   OF SHAREHOLDERS,

TO BE   HELD AT THE

REGISTERED OFFICES OF THE COMPANY, 8,9 & 10, LOKE YEW BUILDINGS,

KUALA LUMPUR,

ON

Thursday, the 30th day of September, 1915, at 11.30 a.m.

MALAYAN    COLLIERIES, LIMITED.

DIRECTORS.

JOHN   ARCHIBALD   RUSSELL,   (Chairman).

As it would not have been a wise policy to start opening out the coal until the Railway was through, or at least some other means obtained of transporting the coal, work was steadily confined to developing the main roads. Now, however, that the Construction Department of the F.M.S. Railways have recently so kindly extended to us the facilities of their construction line from Kuang to near the mine, opening-out work has been begun; this as yet is only on a small scale, for the loading conveniences being merely of a temporary nature are not capable of dealing with any great amount, nor can the Construction Department haul more than a small quantity of coal per day.

Practically all the machinery ordered for the initial lay-out of the Colliery has arrived and has been duly erected.

The boiler unit consists of 2 Babcock and Wilcox boilers, together with a forced draught fan and steel chimney. One or other of these boilers has been in constant use since January, and has given every satisfaction. The boiler plant is housed in a brick and steel building, which is so constructed that additional boilers can be readily laid down at a future date without interfering with the present plant in any way. In passing I might here mention that this policy of providing for future extensions has been adopted wherever possible.

At the back of the boiler house and adjoining it comes the main engine house. This is another brick and steel building, and also constructed out of bricks manufactured at the mine; it houses the two haulage engines, one for each incline, and two D. C. generating sets of 100 K. W. each. In the building as erected space has been provided for a winding-engine set which will draw coal from the North Seam when the opening of that seam is deemed to be necessary. The heapstead and tumbler and temporary screens for dealing with the coal on the surface before it is loaded into wagons are all ready, and will be put into use as soon as the rails of the Colliery Yard are laid, which latter work is expected to be completed sometime in September.

All machinery, I might mention, was transported through the jungle to our
mine over our private road, and a great part of it at a time of heavy rains: the
road thus became badly cut up.                                            

Boring operations were continually in progress.

The labour employed continued to be Chinese throughout. The health of the force was oh the whole not bad, but was distinctly not so good as last year, the opening of the Railway line having introduced a certain amount of malaria into the mine.

I am, Sirs,

Your obedient servant,

T. L. McCALL. Rawang,

30th June, 1915.

Malay Mail of Saturday, 2nd October, 1915 and Malayan Collieries. [Articles] The Straits Times, 6 October 1915, Page 12


Malayan Coal The Collieries Meeting. Probable Outputs The second annual general meeting of shareholders in Malayan Collieries Ltd., was held at the registered offices of the Company, 8,9 and 10 Loke Yew Buildings, Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday, Sept 30th at 11.30 a.m. Mr. J. A. Russell (chairman of directors) presided, the only other directors present being Towkay Loke Yew, C.M.G. by his attorney, Mr. C. Kam Chuan, and Mr. Grant Mackie. Others present were Mr. I.J. Weir, Mr. F. J. Porteous, Mr. Loke Chow Thye, Mr. Yap Heng and Mr. J. L. McCall. Mr. P.P. Spradbery for the secretaries read the notice convening the meeting, and also the minutes of the last meeting which were confirmed. The annual statement of accounts and balance sheet, and the report of the directors and auditors were submitted to the meeting and The Chairman, in moving their adoption said: - Gentlemen,- I presume that as usual, you will take the report and accounts as read. Following the customary practice I shall before moving their adoption first make a few comments on the more important items in the accounts, and the general position of the Company. On the debit side of the balance sheet you will see the issued and subscribed capital now stands at $1,341,480, as against $1,144,240 of the last balance sheet. The difference is due to calls of $2.25 a share having been made during the year on the partly paid capital. The calls in areas are almost entirely due from shareholders absent in Europe, many of whom are fighting with the Allies. Since these accounts were made up, the amount outstanding has been reduced. In view of the third call due on or before to-morrow, I must take this opportunity of remarking with regard to locally resident shareholders it would be unfair on those who do pay promptly for the Board to give any great extension of time to shareholders who are late in paying. However, so far it has not been necessary to forfeit any shares for non payment of calls with the exception of 50 shares belonging to a German subject who the Board understand hurriedly left the Colony shortly before the outbreak of the war, and has not since been heard of. The item “sundry creditors” consists of fees due to the auditors and consulting engineers. The Railway Sidings. Turning to the credit side of the balance sheet, you will notice that the Company has given a charge over its property for $77,000 in favour of the Government of the Federated Malay States as security for the due performance of a contract to pay for the sidings on their completion by the Railway Construction Department. The matter regarding these sidings was explained in a circular letter issued to shareholders on 10th November, 1914. In view of the fact that the Company had not anticipated having to pay for the same, the Government agreed not to charge for the cost of constructing them until they had been fully completed and handed over; taking as their security the charge referred to above. I may mention that the sidings will be completed in a few days time, when a first installment of $20,000 will be due, to be succeeded by the whole sum to be paid off, by further installments of like amounts at three- monthly intervals. It was at first thought it might be possible to pay for our sidings out of the capital received from the last call; but, as explained in the letter to shareholders dated the 28th August last, the unavoidable delay in obtaining rail connection deferred the date at which it was hoped the mine would commence to obtain a substantial return from its coal sales. Expenditure. The expenditure during the year on development is set out in detail overleaf on the balance sheet. The depreciation allowed for is at varying rates per annum, and, except in a few instances, the majority of the plant and buildings having only been erected during the latter part of the financial year, it is not for a full twelvemonth. The item “sundry debtors,” covers amounts owing from those few consumers to whom we had, by the end of the financial year, been able to supply trial consignments of coal. The amount has since been practically all settled. Government quit rent, like insurance premia, is payable in advance, which accounts for the item under this head in the balance sheet. You will see that we have credited Development Account with our shop rents, and with the money we had collected to the 30th June from the sale of trial coal consignments. Our shop rents are comparatively high as, in order to induce shop- keepers to open we have guaranteed them both a certain amount of business, and, under certain agreed conditions, against bad debts. The Output. Any coal at present sold being derived from development work, the proceeds of such sales have been credited to development account. The Board intends to credit all coal sales to development account until the mine has attained to an output of at least 200 tons a day, for until such turn out be reached, the mine can only be considered to be still in the development stage. The coal now produced being incidental to development work, it is impossible to calculate its true production- cost per ton. I will now turn to the general position, giving you the latest information on the development of your property. The Colliery line, which joins the main Railway system at Kuang, was opened to Batu Arang Station on the 1st of this month. From Batu Arang Station to pit -head is some half a mile in length of branch line leading to our own private sidings, which also form our marshalling yard, and which comprise approximately three miles of track. These sidings are, as I have mentioned, on the point of completion, and in fact they only await the finishing off of a culvert, and the concluding touches to the erection of a weighbridge before being handed over to us. The weighbridge, I should add, is being installed at the cost of, and will remain the property of, the Railway Department. Although these sidings are being built by the Construction Department of the Railway, as the Company will eventually have to pay for them, the Board has endeavored to get them constructed as cheaply as possible by ourselves, Malayan Collieries Ltd., taking up the contract, under the Railway Department, for building them. We anticipate finishing the whole of the sidings for a less sum than the $77,000 which is the Railway Department’s estimate. The train Service. At present there is a service of only one train per day to the mine, departing from Kuala Lumpur at 8.47 in the morning and arriving at Batu Arang Station at 10.48. It leaves Batu Arang on its return journey at 12.20 reaching Kuala Lumpur at 2.45. With the increase of our output the train service will be correspondingly augmented. The Railway are very kindly doing our shunting for us at so much per truck, our own shunting locomotive not yet being ready. Before leaving the subject of the Railway line, I should like first to mention that but for the Construction by the Government of this line from Kuang to Batu Arang it would have been impossible for us to have worked our mine on anything like our present capital; we should have had to install an aerial ropeway. I believe that the Railway Department have spent on the line from Kuang to Batu Arang over one million dollars. Output Prospects. We are now turning out some 60 tons of coal a day, all of which is obtained from the South Mine, the North Mine being still in the ‘want” referred to in the Director’s report. This want would seem to be a long narrow fissure or crack in the coal bed, caused by lateral strain, which has become filled up with hard shale. From bores put down we believe we shall shortly be through the “want`’ and into coal again, when our output should reach the 100 tons a day mark. We do not, however, expect to have passed the stage of purely development work until about March next year, so that probably not until then shall we be outputting 200 tons a day. To reach a daily production of 500 tons will take us about a year from now. To hark back to the “want”, I may say that a main road in hard shale has its advantages. Consumption. Our present output is naturally insufficient except to supply a very few consumers, and we are therefore not attempting to press the sale of coal, having already far more orders on our books than we can hope to cope with for some time to come. The coal requires rather different firing from that needed for imported coals, and trials made when no one from the Colliery has been present have often proved disappointing. So far, however, I know of no cases where on a fresh trial under the supervision of our engineer and with some slight adjustment to the fireboxes being made, the coal has not proved eminently suited to its purpose. Shareholders need, I think, have no fears as to the value of their coal as fuel. Two of the largest European owned mines in the country, one in Perak and one in Selangor, are now being run exclusively on Rawang coal. The coal has also been tried for bunkering local steamers with satisfactory results. Plant. With the exception of our electric lighting set and some of the workshop machinery, the pant ordered has all arrived, and but for one of the electrical pumps, has been duly installed. It is, I may add, all working smoothly. But we shall still have to order a screening plant from Home, our present screens being only temporary ones installed until we can get some idea of what sizes of Rawang coal are best suited to the local market. Prospecting. We hope shortly to commence prospecting with the Government deep diamond drill on those parts of your concession still held under prospecting license, where the coal measures are too deep for our own diamond drill to reach. We also wish to put some bores down through the seam outcropping to the north of the Main Seam and underlying it. This North Seam must not be confused with the North Mine; both the North and South mines being in the top leaf of the upper, or what the early prospectors of the property designated the main seam. It is our intention eventually to work this north seam also, by means of vertical shafts sunk near the present mines. By so doing we hope to increase our output up to the 1,000 tons per diem mark. Labour Our Chinese labour is practically all on piecework. To commence with it was very expensive and inefficient, this being due to its inexperience in coal mining; but Mr. McCall and his staff have been gradually training up selected gangs. There is already an improvement, while we have great hopes of in time obtaining quite good miners. In order not to be entirely in the hands of and dependant on one class of labour, your Board has also been considering the advisability and feasibility of recruiting Indian coal miners from the Bengal Province. I cannot sit down before I have first said how much the thanks of the shareholders are due to Mr. McCall, the mine- manager, for his devoted and unremitting work during the year. To a task of the most arduous nature, the conversion of a patch of jungle, miles from anywhere, into a modern colliery, he has brought to bear an intelligence, skill and keenness that has now successfully solved the task only those who now visit the coal mine can realise. In this he has been ably and loyally supported by Mr. Porteous. I will now move “That the report of the directors produced, together with the statement of the Company’s accounts as at June 30, 1915 duly audited, be now received, approved and adopted” and I shall ask Mr. Grant Mackie to second the motion; but before putting it to the meeting I shall be glad to answer to the best of my ability any questions that any share holder may like to put. Prices and Quality. Mr. Loke Chow Thye asked at what price the coal was being sold. The chairman replied that it was sold at $5 a ton free on rail at Batu Arang That he thought worked out considerably cheaper than any local produce. They were selling the small stuff as slacks at $3 a ton. Mr. Weir enquired as to the keeping qualities of the coal. The Chairman said it kept very well under cover, but perhaps decrepitation was slightly more than with most coals when it was exposed to sun and rain. Mr. McCall remarked that all coals ought to be kept under cover. The Admiralty, in fact, kept theirs under water. Mr. A. Grant Mackie seconded the resolution, which was carried. Directors. Mr. Weir proposed and Mr. Porteous seconded the re-election of Mr. A. Grant Mackie as a director. Carried. Mr. C. Kam Chuan proposed and Mr. Porteous seconded the re election of Mr. A. D. Allan as a director. Carried. Auditors Messrs. F. W.Barker and Company were re elected as auditors, at a fee of $750 for the year, on the proposition of Mr. Weir, seconded by Mr. Loke Chow Kit. The director’s remuneration, on the proposition of Mr. Weir, seconded by Mr. Loke Chow Thye was fixed at $3,000, as previously. Vote of Thanks Mr. Weir proposed a vote of thanks be passed to Mr. McCall and the staff for their good work during the year. Mr. Grant Mackie said he had the greatest pleasure in seconding, as he knew the good work Mr. McCall had done. The resolution was carried. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.